In the online world, a handle is another word for a username. It can refer to the name you use in chat rooms, web forums, and social media services like Twitter.
The term handle dates back to the 1970s and comes from Citizens Band radio (CB radio), a short distance radio communications medium. CB radio users would identify themselves by unique nicknames, which became known as handles. When online chat became popular in the 1990s, the term handle transferred to the Internet and became a common way for users to identify themselves online.
While handle and username are often used synonymously, they do not always mean the same thing. For example, when you choose a username for a secure website like a bank or investment site, it is not necessarily your handle. This is because the username is intended to be private and used in combination with a password to create your login. Handles, on the other hand, are public usernames that can be used to identify people online.
The most popular web service to use handles is Twitter. In fact, Twitter usernames are often called Twitter handles. You can reference other users in a tweet using Mentions or the @reply feature. To mention another Twitter user in your post, simply type an at symbol (@) immediately before the users handle. A link to the users profile will show up in the published tweet and the user will be notified that you have mentioned or replied to him or her.
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RE: Handle
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Gigabyte
A gigabyte is 109 or 1,000,000,000 bytes.
One gigabyte (abbreviated GB) is equal to 1,000 megabytes and precedes the terabyte unit of measurement. While a gigabyte is technically 1,000,000,000 bytes, in some cases, gigabytes are used synonymously with gibibytes, which contain 1,073,741,824 bytes (1024 x 1,024 x 1,024 bytes).
Gigabytes, sometimes abbreviated gigs, are often used to measure storage capacity. For example, a standard DVD can hold 4.7 gigabytes of data. An SSD might hold 256 GB, and a hard drive may have a storage capacity of 750 GB. Storage devices that hold 1,000 GB of data or more are typically measured in terabytes.
RAM is also usually measured in gigabytes. For example, a desktop computer may come with 16 GB of system RAM and 2 GB of video RAM. A tablet may only require 1 GB of system RAM since portable apps typically do not require as much memory as desktop applications.
NOTE: You can view a list of all the units of measurement used for measuring data storage. -
Full-Duplex
Full-duplex, or simply duplex, is a type of communication in which data can flow two ways at the same time. Full duplex devices, therefore, can communicate back and forth simultaneously.
Telephones are common examples of full-duplex devices. They allow both people to hear each other at the same time. In the computer world, most network protocols are duplex, enabling hardware devices to send data back and forth simultaneously. For example, two computers connected via an Ethernet cable can send and receive data at the same time. Wireless networks also support full-duplex communication. Additionally, modern I/O standards, such as USB and Thunderbolt, are full-duplex.
The terms duplex and full-duplex can be used interchangeably since both refer to simultaneous bidirectional communication. Full-duplex is often used in contrast to half-duplex, which refers to bidirectional communication, but not at the same time. Simplex communication is even more limited and only supports data transmission in one direction.
NOTE: Full-duplex is sometimes abbreviated FDX. -
Footer
The term footer has many uses in the computer world. However, the two most common are 1) a document footer, and 2) a webpage footer.
Document Footer
A document footer is a small section at the bottom of each page within a document. It is often used to display company data or copyright information. In longer documents, the footer may be used to specify the current section of the document as well. By default, changes made to the footer on one page will change the footer on all other pages in the section. If no sections are defined, modifying the footer will update all the pages in the document.
Most word processors allow you to view and edit document footers by selecting View → Headers and Footers. This enables you to edit the content of both the header at the top of the page and the footer at the bottom. Some word processors, like Microsoft Word, allow you to simply double-click within the footer section to edit the content. If you want to change the height of the footer, you can modify the margins in the Document Properties window.
Since page numbers are often placed at the bottom of each page, they are generally considered part of the footer. However, unlike most footer content, page numbers are different on each page, since they are automatically incremented. Additionally, changes made to the footer will not affect the page numbers.Webpage Footer
The bottom section of a webpage is also known as a footer. This area typically contains the name of the company or organization that publishes the website, along with relevant copyright information. Some websites may also include basic navigation links, such as About Us, Contact, and Help. Corporate website footers often include additional links to Terms of Use, Privacy Guidelines, and Advertising pages as well.
While footers are not required on webpages, they are found on nearly all major websites. HTML 5 even includes a <footer> tag, which is designed specifically for placing footer information at the bottom of a webpage. Additionally, visitors often expect to find certain information about a website when they scroll down to the bottom of a page in their web browser. Therefore, most web developers include a footer as a standard part of their website template. -
Fluid Layout
A fluid layout is a type of webpage design in which layout of the page resizes as the window size is changed. This is accomplished by defining areas of the page using percentages instead of fixed pixel widths.
Most webpage layouts include one, two, or three columns. In the early days of web design, when most users had similar screen sizes, web developers would assign the columns fixed widths. For example, a fixed layout may include a main content area that is 960px wide with three columns that have widths of 180px, 600px, and 180px. While this layout might look great on a 1024x768 screen, it might look small on a 1920x1080 screen and would not fit on a 800x600 screen.
Fluid layouts solve this problem by using percentages to define each area of the layout. For example, instead of creating a content area of 960px, a web developer can create a layout that fills 80% of the screen and the three columns could take up 18%, 64%, and 18% respectively. By using percentages, the content can expand or shrink to fit the window of the users computer. The CSS used to create a fixed layout vs a fluid layout is shown below.
The CSS classes in the examples could each be assigned to a div within a pages HTML where the .left, .right, and .middle classes are enclosed within the .content class. The content class could also be a assigned to a table and the other classes could be assigned to table cells. The fixed width .content class does not require a defined width since it automatically spans the width of the enclosed divs or table cells.
The terms fluid layout and responsive web design are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are two different things. A page created using responsive web design includes CSS media queries, which load different styles depending on the width of the window or the type of device used to access the page. Responsive web design requires more CSS (and sometimes JavaScript) than a basic fluid layout, but it also provides more control over layout of the page. -
Email Bomb
An email bomb or mail bomb is a malicious act in which a large number of email messages are sent to a single email address in a short period of time. The purpose of an email bomb is typically to overflow a users inbox. In some cases, it will also make the mail server unresponsive.
Email bombing is often done from a single system in which one user sends hundreds or thousands of messages to another user. In order to send the messages quickly, the email bomber may use a script to automate the process. By sending emails with a script, it is possible to send several thousand messages per minute.
If performed successfully, an email bomb will leave the recipient with a pile of email messages in his or her inbox. It may also max out the recipients email quota, preventing the user from receiving new email messages. The result is a frustrating situation where the user has to manually delete the messages. If the recipients email client or webmail system does not allow the user to select all the unwanted messages at once, this process can take a long time to complete.
Fortunately, most mail servers are capable of detecting email bombs before a large number of messages are sent. For example, if the server detects that more than ten messages are received from the same email address within one minute, it may block the senders email address or IP address. This simple action will stop the email bomb by rejecting additional emails from the sender. -
Drop Down Menu
A drop down menu is horizontal list of options that each contain a vertical menu. When you roll over or click one of the primary options in a drop down menu, a list of choices will drop down below the main menu.
The most common type of drop down menu is a menu bar. On Windows systems, the menu bar is typically located at the top of each open window. On Macintosh systems, it is fixed at the top of the screen. When you click one of the options in the menu bar, such as File, a list of options will appear below the menu, such as New, Open, Close, and Save. You can click any of these options to select it.
Drop down menus are also commonly used for website navigation. Many websites use drop down menus to provide users with direct links to more pages than standard navigation bars allow. For example, a news website may list several news categories in the main menu, such as Politics, Business, Sports, and Entertainment. Each of these menu options may include several subcategories. For example, the Sports menu may contain options such Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, and Soccer. By selecting a specific sport within the Sports menu, you can navigate to the section you want with one click, instead of having to visit the main Sports page first.
Website drop down menus are typically created using DHTML (dynamic HTML), which may include a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. They can also be written as Flash applications. While software program menus typically require you to click on the main menu to reveal the drop down options, website drop down menus often appear when you simply move the cursor over the main menu. Clicking a main menu option at the top of a website drop down menu may open the main topic page (like the Sports page in the example above). Regardless of how intuitive you find drop down menus to be, they can be a useful navigation tool once you get used to them. -
DLL
Stands for Dynamic Link Library. A DLL (.dll) file contains a library of functions and other information that can be accessed by a Windows program. When a program is launched, links to the necessary .dll files are created. If a static link is created, the .dll files will be in use as long as the program is active. If a dynamic link is created, the .dll files will only be used when needed. Dynamic links help programs use resources, such as memory and hard drive space, more efficiently.
DLL files can also be used by more than one program. In fact, they can even be used by multiple programs at the same time. Some DLLs come with the Windows operating system while others are added when new programs are installed. You typically dont want to open a .dll file directly, since the program that uses it will automatically load it if needed. Though DLL filenames usally end in .dll, they can also end in .exe, .drv, and .fon, just to make things more confusing.
File extension: .DLL -
Chip
Technically speaking, a computer chip is a piece of silicon with an electronic circuit embedded in it. However, the word chip is often used as a slang term that refers to various components inside a computer. It typically describes an integrated circuit, or IC, such as a central processor or a graphics chip, but may also refer to other components such as a memory module.
While chip is a somewhat ambiguous term, it should not be confused with the term card. For example, a laptop might have a graphics chip embedded in the motherboard, while a desktop computer may contain a graphics card connected to a PCI or AGP slot. A graphics card may contain a chip, but the chip cannot contain a card. Similarly, a CPU may contain a chip (the processor), but it may also contain several other components. Therefore, the term chip can be used to refer to specific components, but should not be used describe multiple components that are grouped together. -
Certificate
An SSL certificate, or secure certificate, is a file installed on a secure Web server that identifies a website. This digital certificate establishes the identity and authenticity of the company or merchant so that online shoppers can trust that the website is secure and reliable. In order to verify that these sites are legitimate (they are who they say they are), the companies and their websites are verified by a third party, such as Verisign or Thawte.
Once the verification company establishes the legitimacy of an organization and the associated website, they will issue an SSL certificate (for the small fee of a few hundred dollars). This digital certificate is installed on the Web server and will be viewable when a user enters a secure area of the website. You can tell you are visiting a secure page when the URL starts with https. To view the certificate, click the lock icon near one of the edges of your browser window.
Because digital certificates verify a companys current status, they do not last forever. SSL certificates typically expire every one to three years. If the certificate is not renewed in time, you may see an alert box pop up that says This websites certificate has expired. This error has nothing to do with you or your computer, but is displayed because the Web server you connected to has not renewed its SSL certificate. While this does not necessarily mean the site is fraudulent, it does show that the site is less than professional.